It happens at least once a season to almost every team. The humiliating blow-out loss. This year, the Sharks bowed to the Coyotes 8-0. Anaheim got smacked around by Philly. Last season, the Flames were humbled by Nashville to the tune of 9-4. The only real consolation for the Flames is that their last 2 bouts of degradation came at the hands of very good opponents.
Of course, the true unmitigated disaster isn't the Detroit debacle from yesterday. That's merely the exclamation point. The real train-wreck is the roadtrip as a whole - 0-2-1 - one point out of a possible 6. Prior to leaving the Dome, it looked like the Flames had the all the pieces coming together (ref assisted loss to the Hawks notwithstanding). Everyone was scoring and Kipper was unbeatable. Conroy and Iggy had returned and the team was alone in first place.
Cue the collapse.
A rueful performance in Columbus was followed up by a fairly decent, yet ultimately vain, effort in Buffalo. By the end of the game against the Sabres, the Flames had squandered no less than 3 straight 3rd period leads. The big guns had been silent since the 'Hawk contest and were playing so poorly as to be detrimental to the cause. And then a big trade, a disruption in the dressing room, an away game less than 24 hours later to a strong opponent and the painful, "un-lubed" assault that resulted.
On one hand, this recent spate of ineptitude seems like a natural and inevitable regression - the Flames had been riding high through January despite various obstacles and had been an excellent team in general since the end of October. Speaking in strictly probabilistic terms, a slump was bound to happen sooner or later. It doesn't seem to make intuitive sense, given the fact the team's roster is arguably stronger than it has been at any other given point in the season, but there it is.
What isn't simply probabilistic of course, and thereby more of a concern, is the road record. Calgary is approaching honest-to-god laughable levels of buffoonery away from home. The unerring and marked difference between the team's performance and effort in the Dome vs. other rinks is becoming a fascinating case-study in group dynamics and sport psychology, as well as a horribly vexing sticking point for coach and fans alike. Should this continue, I half expect someone to find Jimmy Playfair purple and prostrate in his home one day, a glass of Jack on the table, an empty bottle of Valium clutched in his dead hand, and a half-burnt copy of Kerouac's "On the Road" still smoldering on the floor nearby.
The road woes have been perpetuated by various issues so far this season. First, there was the now annual Flames slow start (almost as equally inexplicable). Then, there was the lack of quality minutes from the supporting staff such as Friesen, Nilson, Lundmark, McCarty, Zyuzin and the like, making line matching on the road an interesting adventure. Further complicating issues, Kipper struggled in mid-December, leading to a week or two of increased goals against.
And now, after dominating the competition and almost faultlessly carrying the mail for the majority of the year, the Flames big guns have fallen into a funk. Langkow, Iginla, Tanguay and to a lesser extent Lombardi, Huselius and Conroy have all been rather ordinary or worse over the last 4 games. The first 2 in particular have struggled mightily as compared to their earlier work this year. Iginla may still be getting up to game speed thanks to his month-long lay-off, but Im not sure what the deal is with Langkow. Lombardi's struggles began when Conroy was brought into the fold, and he has yet to completely break-out of them. The Huselius inclusion may be a tad unfair, considering he managed to extend his scoring streak to an NHL best 15 games despite the black-hole like suckage of some of his teammates. He's probably been the best of the top 6. Tanguay had a decent enough game yesterday (as much as that is possible to say about any Flame from yesterday) but was bordering on "dreadful" in the 3 games prior.
The good news, I suppose, is that Iginla and co. cannot simply be this bad for too much longer. The Flames now have a fairly strong supporting cast with the additions of Primeau and Conroy and a formidable top 4 defense corps with acquisition of Stuart. If Iginla can rediscover his form again (and, really, that's all it'll take), the Flames should get back to their winning ways again. At least, at home. Whether this all equates to some measure of road success before the end of the season is, at this point, a total fucking mystery. but here's hoping, I guess.
